ROCKFORD — No doubt the majority of the sellout crowd Sunday at BMO Harris Bank Center derived more satisfaction seeing the Stanley Cup than the game between Texas and Rockford.

But it was close.

A turnout of 6,353 got to see the National Hockey League's symbol of excellence off the ice and a nifty American Hockey League comeback on it. The IceHogs overcame a horrendous start to emerge with an entertaining 4-2 victory over the Stars.

Some fans had to exhibit patience by standing in line for hours, but IceHogs head coach Ted Dent couldn't wait anywhere near as long. He used his team's timeout just 2 minutes, 53 seconds after the opening puck drop. His team trailed 1-0 then, and 2-0 a little more than two minutes later.

The Stars, despite missing AHL scoring leader Travis Morin (18 points in eight games) to a call-up by the Dallas Stars, outshot Rockford 10-1 to begin play — and 48-34 on the day. Chris Mueller and Francis Wathier gave Texas the early edge on the Stars' first and fourth shots directed at goalie Antti Raanta.

"I'm not afraid to take timeouts early," Dent said. "We were just flat on our heels. They were all over us, and I just wanted to make sure our guys understood we had to get going and support Antti (Razanta) in the net. We need to start better than that."

Jimmy Hayes fed Drew LeBlanc for a second-period score to make it 2-1. Then came the eventful final 20 minutes. Alex Broadhurst and Mark McNeill produced back-to-back unassisted tallies to tie the game and take the lead for good. Broadhurst then fed Klas Dalhbeck for an empty-netter to cap the festive afternoon.

"It was awesome," Broadhurst said of his tying score after he stole the puck near the blue line and then split three defenders before depositing the puck past goalie Christopher Nilstrop. "My first goal at our rink, so that's pretty cool.

"I was pretty lucky. Their forward tried to give it back to a defenseman and he didn't see me coming. I just picked it up and split them."

McNeill followed Broadhurst's lead less than two minutes later at 12:26, rifling a shot from the right circle into the far side of the net.

"It can be contagious, especially when the crowd gets going," Broadhurst said. "It creates more energy and everyone gets fired up. I definitely think we got some momentum from (my) goal."

Rockford (7-2-1-0) continues to lead the Western Conference in points (15) and extended the league's top unbeaten streak (5-0-1-0) to six games. Texas (5-3-1-0) entered the day second in the conference, with 11 points. The teams concluded their two-game season series, with Rockford winning both.